Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The love of Christ, for Paul, sunexei us. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:14 in a few different Bibles and you’ll see many translations: RSV: controls us. NRSV: urges us on. New Jerusalem Bible: overwhelms. King James: constrain-eth. TNIV: compels. All of that, in one word, and even those translations don’t quite suffice to describe what the love of Christ does to us.

We all are baptized in the name of the Triune God, and surely from that moment on (if not also before!) we live within the love of Christ, a love which holds us together, which holds us captive, which overwhelms us, and at the same time, a love which urges us on, which makes us entirely new people. Have you ever gotten a huge hug from someone and then felt like you could do just about anything? That is a brief glimpse of how Christ’s love works in us. It holds us together; it sends us out to serve. Just like our liturgy does, come to think of it.

It is the love of Christ that urges us to see the world becoming new in Christ, and to share the love of Christ which was given us. Whether we are at our workplace, doing advocacy for the oppressed, visiting those who are ill, offering a welcome space for the unwelcome, we do all this because it is our mission to do so, individually and as a congregation. The love of Christ does that!

Mary, our children and I are so grateful for the lovely brunch and reception held in honor of our 25th wedding anniversary Sunday, June 10. It was beautiful. Thank you to all who came, thanks for all the kind notes and gracious words. Thank you very much to all who organized this, who cooked for it, served at it, helped our daughters set up their things, and in general made this all happen. It was a wonderful day, and thank you to all our sisters and brothers who continue to make us part of the family at Mount Olive!

- Pastor Crippen

Lost and Found

Are you missing a bowl? A sweater? A pair of readers? An umbrella? A hat, scarf, or glove? Anything that you may have left at church?

This Sunday, June 17, we hope to reunite all of the items in our Lost and Found with their owners. These items will be on display for two Sundays (June 17 and 24). Plan to stop and see if anything in the Lost and Found belongs to you! Those items not claimed will be donated to a charitable organization after June 24.

The National Lutheran Choir will perform a signature program that combines creative hymnody, exemplary choral literature, and poetic meditations. The Hymn Festival is the closing event of Chorus America’s 35th annual conference and it’s free and open to the public. NLC Artistic Director (and Mount Olive Cantor) David Cherwien is organist and director for this event, and Susan Palo Cherwien will offer reflections.

Meet the Artists!

During the Education Hour this Sunday, June 17, you will have the opportunity to meet artists from The Art Shoppe and to view some of their work.

Mount Olive sponsors the Art Shoppe jointly with A Minnesota Without Poverty and the Jewish Community Relations Council. By establishing an entrepreneurship, the artists are able to show and sell their work with the goal of overcoming poverty and becoming financially independent.

Several from Mount Olive will soon begin volunteering at the shop. If anyone else is interested, please speak to a Neighborhood Committee member. The shop is located in the Midtown Global Market.

The artists are grateful for your support and are eager to meet you! We believe that you will be impressed with the quality of their work. So come enjoy meeting the artists, hearing their stories and viewing their work. Art work they display will be available for purchase.

Urgent Need for Worship Assistants

If you have considered taking on the role of acolyte, greeter, or communion minister at worship, now is your moment!

We are in need of volunteers in all three of these areas. If you are interested in becoming an acolyte or greeter, please contact Al Bipes or Peggy Hoeft, and they will help to get you trained and involved.

Praying for our Graduates

On Sunday, July 8, we would like to remember all of Mount Olive’s graduates in the Prayers of Intercession at the morning liturgy.

If you, a member of your family, or someone else from Mount Olive is graduating from a high school, post-secondary school (college, seminary, graduate school), please drop a note to or call the church office by Monday, July 2, so that they may be included in the prayers on that day.

After liturgy, we will all have an opportunity to extend our congratulations and best wishes to the graduates at coffee hour.

Book Discussion Group

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group regularly meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. The book they are reading for the coming months are:

June 16: (postponed one week due to Bach Tage): Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann

July 14: The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope.

The Bargain Box

Each August, Mount Olive Neighborhood Ministries sponsors The Bargain Box, an affordable way for neighborhood families to obtain good quality clothing (new and gently used) for children of all ages to wear as they return to school in the fall. This year, the Bargain Box will be on August 4, from 8-11:30 a.m.

You can help by donating new or gently used children’s clothes or money to purchase clothes (please include “Bargain Box” in the memo line of your gift), before August 4.
If you have any questions about Bargain Box, please contact Irene Campbell at 651-230-3927.

Don’t Forget the Toiletries

Now that school is out and summer is almost here, many of us are planning summer vacations. We ask that in your travels, you keep any unused complimentary toiletries from hotels or motels to give to the homeless. (Payment for your accommodations includes these items.) Also needed are trial-size personal items that can be purchased.

Those who are living in homeless shelters, or on the street have great need but little space for personal hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, etc. You may bring your donations to church and place them in the box marked "Our Savior’s" on the shelf in the coat room. These items will be delivered to Our Savior’s Shelter for those in their homeless program. This is one simple way we can "Remember the Poor."

Garden Tour Fundraiser

See some beautiful gardens and support a worthwhile project!

This garden tour is a fund raiser to purchase a rolling door for the serving window in the east assembly room. This would allow folks to work on the counter without disturbing those who may be a meeting in the East Assembly Room.

The tour will take place on Sunday, July 22, after church. Participants will be served brunch at the first garden stop, travel to another garden or two, and end the tour with a garden party at the last stop. The charge for the tour will be $25.00 per person. More information will be available soon, but in the meantime, mark your calendar! We hope many will be able to attend. We had a great time with this fundraiser two years ago and we are sure that this year will be just as much fun.